This is our fight
by alfakyn-elf
Summary: *BOOK SPOILERS* Kili has evaded death once again, only to find that he is able to love the stars again. Kiliel. Flash fic. Please review and check out my other stuff.


**Author's note: Just got back from seeing DoS again...it's so good. I wanna be an elf. :(**

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Kili watched his brother go down, but it felt like the world around him had gotten cold. He could feel the breath leave his lungs, but he was unable to draw in another. Everything had slowed down around him. He couldn't even find himself able enough to raise his blade in time when an orc charged forward, banishing its own weapon and bringing it down upon him. Now that his brother and uncle were dead, it was fitting for him to fall as well.

The last thing Kili saw before the world went dark was the red-headed she-elf that had he had come to grow fond of in the short time they had known each other.

She was just a dream...after all….

For what felt like forever, Kili floated. His brother and uncle stood at the end of a hallway in Erebor, beckoning to him. He stared at them in anguish as they held their hands out to him, but something kept holding him back. And then he realized it was a voice. A voice calling to him, telling him that it was not his time. He felt torn. He was not ready to die, but Fili and Thorin were wishing it of him. Then again, what of his people?

It only took him a moment or two before he turned away from his kin. "I'm so sorry…" he whispered, heading towards the blanket of light from which the voice from earlier was coming from. It was so blinding that he had to close his eyes, and when he did, he found that his surroundings were slowly fading…

He awoke with a gasp. The next thing he noticed was the fiery pain that split across his back. He felt like his entire body was on fire, and sweat poured from his brow. "Water," he croaked, but he could not yet focus well enough to see if there was even anyone that could hear him. He distantly heard someone get up, and then a slender hand grip the back of his head as they tilted a pan of water into his mouth. He drank the water hungrily, clearing his blurred vision to look into the eyes of the stars themselves. It took him a moment to understand that it wasn't the night sky he was looking at, but the eyes of Tauriel.

"Don't move. You'll only harm yourself further," she murmured quietly, giving the softest of smiles. It made Kili feel weak. It was then he remembered what had just transpired.

"How am I alive?" He asked her, the grief for the loss of his brother and uncle almost mind crippling. Unashamed tears leaked from the corners of his eyes, coating his cheeks and washing away the blood stain that dirtied his face and hair. "I should be dead."

"Twice now I've saved you. You should owe me for that." The first time the she-elf was playful with him, and he couldn't seem to find himself even able to give her a smile. She quickly realized that it was the wrong moment to be lightening such occurrences, and her smile turned to that of sympathy.

"Why couldn't you save them, if you saved me?"

His words caused Tauriel to hesitated. She took a moment to avoid his question by pressing a damp cloth into the water bin, ring it out, and then brush it gently against the young dwarf's forehead. He allowed her her moment of silence, too caught up in his sadness to care. He could tell that he was in a home, but whose and the outcome of the battle he was just in was lost to him at the moment.

"Thorin was already gone when I got to you. I could only save you or your brother, not both. I chose you." Her chin raised slightly when she spoke, but she didn't sound the least bit guilty when she admitted to her deeds. Kili, however, was shocked.

"You should have saved my brother! He was to be king when Thorin died. Now…" his voice cut off when he realized the severity of the situation. "Now I will be king under the mountain." He felt sick and excited simultaneously, and then a split second later felt the guilt. It should have been his brother's place, not his.

"I'm sorry for your loss Kili. Truly I am. I will have you know that the battle was won, and that your home is reclaimed. There is a darkness at hand here, and the dwarves of Erebor need someone to lead them. I do not wish that it was you - truly I don't, but I cannot change what is done. If you will have me leave-"

"No!" Kili's voice sounded panicked and pained as his hand lunged outwards, gripping hers tightly. He was silent for a moment, focusing on how soft the she-elf's hands were, despite their constant usage of a bow, before he spoke again. "I have had time to dwell on this. The first time I laid my eyes on you, I thought you were the loveliest creature I had ever seen. Imagine that? A dwarf, falling for an elf. I used to get made fun of for my small beard, but this? I could only guess the words that would be spoken if they knew." He squeezed her hand, as if assuring himself she was still there, and then he looked up at her, shifting as a shock of pain shot through his back.

"I will not rule. It can go to someone else more equipped for it. I wish to remain with you." His mouth was formed in a determined line. The grief was still evident on his face, and Tauriel bent down, using her free hand to catch one of the tears on the tips of her fingertips.

"Tears are so much like starlight. They both hold memories, and several emotions can come from them. I, too, have thought about you quite frequently since we captured you from the spiders. For a time, I was quite fond of the Prince Legolas, but that fondness was short-lived, and you have succeeded in capturing my attention. Gi melin." She did not translate, even when Kili gave her a questioning look, but he was quickly distracted when the elvish captain knelt down and gently pressed her lips to his. He felt like he was finally able to breathe again - the first time since seeing his brother fall in battle.

He decided then that no matter what, if he were to take the throne, or him and Tauriel were to run off together, or even if he were to live in Mirkwood, with the elves if it meant being with Tauriel, he would do it. Because, despite all of the hopelessness, he had found his reason to love the stars again.

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**AN: Thanks for reading! I wasn't sure that if Kili were to live and Thorin and Fili died he would become king, but I decided I didn't care - this is MY piece. But, I would love reviews and would love if anyone and everyone were to check out and review my other stuff! Thanks guys take care. :3**


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